The Lemon Drop Conspiracy
by FawkesFyre
Summary: People are suddenly acting a bit strange around the headmaster, and he is becoming increasingly worried. After all, who ever accepts his lemon drops? Rated T to be safe.
1. Harry

**Author's Note: ** The chapters will likely be short, but this is just a silly little idea that a sentence in another fic gave me. Have fun ;)

"Come in, Harry," Dumbledore called when he heard the spiral staircase grind to a halt outside his office door one morning after breakfast. The old door creaked open and Harry slipped in, not appearing at all surprised to be summoned. Albus supposed he had been sending notes to Harry too often for him to sneak into the office and look around curiously as he had the first few times he had received an invitation. Instead, his student came right in and sat down in the chair before Albus's desk with an ease of familiarity and a faint smile.

"Hello, my boy. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Anytime, headmaster."

"Care for a lemon drop?"

"Sure." Albus hadn't bothered to pick up the bowl on his desk to offer so sure was he that Harry wouldn't accept the candy. _It seems that not very many people see it fit to indulge in the occasional sweet_, Albus thought as he raised the dish for Harry to pluck a lemon drop out of. _I'm glad that Harry has yet to reach that point. _Harry popped the little yellow ball into his mouth and smiled at Dumbledore before asking, "Do you have something you want to talk about?"

"Ah, yes, of course. I have some exciting news regarding the Order, though nothing especially helpful for our actual cause." He paused, regarding the slightly disheartening mix of repressed anxiety and halfhearted excitement on Harry's face. "The restoration of Number 12 Grimmauld place has been completed. The order now has a headquarters!" Dumbledore sat back in his chair and brought his arms from their place on his desk out to the armrests, satisfied at his artful delivery.

"That's great, headmaster," Harry's lack of surprise to this news was also slightly disheartening, Dumbledore thought. "Sirius will be happy."

"Yes he will, my boy! Molly and Arthur have gotten the house ready for our first meeting, which is the purpose of your visit. The meeting will be tonight at 8 o'clock sharp, but you'll have to use Severus's floo to get there. Be at his quarters at five 'till, do you understand? We wouldn't want the Order to be missing a member on the grand opening of Number 12!" Albus made sure to add extra sparkle to his eyes for good measure.

"Yep, I'll be there. Thanks for the lemon drop, headmaster!" Harry said as he stood up. "See you tonight," he called just as the office door creaked closed behind him.

"Of course, my boy…" Albus said to the now empty room. Fawkes squawked from his perch dolefully. _That was surprisingly anticlimactic_. Dumbledore thought. He would simply have to refine his announcement when he told the rest of the Order members.


	2. Minerva

**Author's note:** I've got a few chapters already written, so this won't be a drawn out story. I just thought 500 words for a first chapter was rather short, so I'm uploading this today as well.

Albus received a few 'hello's from his students as he walked through the hallways and smiled in return, turning up the twinkle. Every so often he had to get out of his office no matter how much he loved the room, to stretch his legs a bit and reassure the students that he was still alive and kicking, as it were. Make an appearance, have a change of pace, and other such sentiments. He walked with purpose but not with haste, gazing about with an air of happy contemplation. He found it was the easiest way to put people at ease. He also approved of the regal way his plum robes swept over the flagstones, which put him in a happy mood on any day.

It was time for a class change, and the hallways were bustling with activity. Dumbledore was on his way to Minerva's classroom to give her the news during her free second period, and perhaps have a spot of tea.

"Hi Al-Bledore!" He heard Harry call as he rounded the corner and dashed out of sight. _Hmm. I've never heard _that_ particular nickname before. And actually, Harry has _never_ called me by a nickname. _He thought, putting a finger to his bearded chin. He was distracted as Minerva's door opened at the end of the hall and the professor herself stepped out.

"Ah, Minerva, just who I was looking for!" Albus said happily, walking up to her as she locked her classroom up. "I have some good news!"

"Can't it wait, Albus? I'm frightfully busy," She said without making eye contact as she shuffled a few things around in her arms.

"It can, but only if you are willing to miss the Order meeting tonight," he said teasingly, hoping to pique her interest. He thought baiting Minerva was strange, but it took him a moment to figure out why he thought so. _I usually don't have to try for her attention, _he realized. Occasionally, his audience felt the need to examine a thought in depth during a conversation, a scholarly habit which Dumbledore appreciated, but which caused him to have to regain their attention occasionally. But Albus knew that the transfiguration teacher admired him past what a work relationship normally suggested; he usually didn't have to _try_ for her attention because she usually _gave_ it to him. _Strange, _he thought_._

"Excuse me?" She said, momentarily stopping her juggling to look up at him.

"The first Order meeting is set for tonight at eight o'clock, in the newly restored Number 12 Grimmauld place!" he said with a flourish.

"I'll be sure to be there then. Goodbye, Albus," Minerva said, and walked briskly away, leaving him smiling expectantly at the empty airspace in front of him. _Very strange indeed. _His contemplation of the strange conversation was broken when a student walked past him and gave him a slightly uneasy look. Dumbledore took stock of his appearance, wiped the frozen smile off his face, and spun around towards the direction of his office and began walking. He'd had enough change of pace for today.


	3. Severus

There was an owl waiting on his desk when Albus returned to his office, sitting as far away as physically possible from Fawkes, who was regarding it with interest.

"Ah, a feathered visitor!" he said to no one in particular. The owl hooted, a terrified little noise which Fawkes then tried to imitate, succeeding only in scaring the little bird more. Dumbledore gave his phoenix a disapproving look before seating himself behind his desk and arranging his robes. The owl hopped closer to the comforting presence of a human, and Albus removed the scrap of parchment from its leg with little trouble.

"Would you like an owl treat?" he crooned, reaching down to grab the dish he kept of them from inside a desk drawer and snagging a lemon drop for himself on the way by.

_Albus_

_ I am currently in Hogsmeade and would appreciate the use of your floo to return to Hogwarts. I seem to have blocked the fireplace in my quarters. A rather alarming number of books have fallen over, and are blocking the floo. Also, I would like to request more bookshelves, no matter how efficient my stacking method was working. _

_ Severus _

Dumbledore chuckled merrily and wrote a quick affirmative response to his potions master. The owl all but broke the sound barrier in his haste to leave, and Dumbledore cast another look in Fawkes's direction. He started singing innocently.

"Like I am going to fall for _that,_ you devious bird." Fawkes didn't break tempo, and Dumbledore smiled anyway. The floo roared suddenly to life, the green light of the flames flickering over the room and casting jumpy shadows for the few moments it took Severus to step through and close the connection.

"Good morning, Severus!" Dumbledore said as Snape dusted the ash off his black robes and the few packages he was carrying.

"Albus." He said. "Thank you, for the use of you floo."

"Anytime, my boy. Do you have a moment?" Severus nodded cautiously.

"Sit, sit, I have some news!" Perhaps Severus would have a better reaction than his previous audiences had. "Would you care for some tea?"

"No thank you, I have to make it to the dungeons before my next class begins. Perhaps just a lemon drop."

"Why, of course! Here you are," Albus said, taken off guard for the third time that day. _Severus _asked_ for a lemon drop? _

"You know, surely, of the work we have put in to restoring Sirius's house, Number 12 Grimmauld place?" He said.

"Of course."

"Then you will be delighted to know that the restoration is complete! The first Order meeting at our new headquarters will be held tonight at eight o'clock sharp!"

"I'm glad, Albus." Dumbledore was slightly appeased; this was the most he was expecting from tight-lipped Severus.

"Harry Potter will be using your floo tonight, if you get the books cleared away by then. I asked him to be outside your quarters at five 'till, will that be acceptable?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful! I shall see you tonight then, my boy!"

"Until then, Albus." Severus said, and stood smoothly and left. Dumbledore tried not to notice the whispered spell and the sudden disappearance of a little yellow ball from between the potion master's fingers as he pulled the door closed. _Curiouser and curiouser. _

**Author's note: **I really have no idea where this story is going. I'm just writing. ;)


	4. Suspicion

Dumbledore was growing concerned. Strange things were happening today, and not the usual type of strange things that happened daily at Hogwarts. It was lunchtime, and Dumbledore was seated at the teacher table in the Great Hall puzzling over his turkey sandwich. He twirled the end of his beard around his index finger as he thought. _Both Harry and Severus accepted a lemon drop. Minerva wasn't her usual attentive self. _But those were only the obvious things.

Harry and Draco had not gotten into a fight yet today either. This was not altogether surprising; the two boys had been getting along better than their track record suggested they might. But a scuffle _was_ a common occurrence. There was also the appearance of Harry's curious new nickname to consider.

Neville Longbottom had not exploded or otherwise incapacitated his potion today in class either, or he felt sure Severus would have mentioned it as he usually made a habit of doing. _Or was that just it? Perhaps dear Neville _did_ explode a potion, and the oddity was that Severus failed to mention it. _

Hagrid, who wasn't known for a lack of appetite, had yet to show his face at the head table. _What could be important enough to him to warrant skipping a meal? _

Nymphadora Tonks had flooed into his office on time just before lunch upon his request. _On time_. And had _also_ _accepted a lemon drop_. Albus had offered the candy to her once he was seated out of tradition, yes, but also out of apprehensive curiosity. Would she take one as well? It was strange, to see a small dent out of his lemon drop dish that he had not put there himself. Almost _unnerving_.

None of these things, had they happened on separate occasions, would have warranted a second thought; some wouldn't have even gotten a first. But together, they put the world off balance just enough to make Dumbledore take notice.

He was startled out of his musings by a hand on his, disentangling his fingers from the end of his beard.

"You'll pull it all out." Snape murmured before taking his seat and pulling his plate towards him nonchalantly. _Would he have done that if it were yesterday? _Dumbledore thought childishly. He shook his head and went back to his lunch. Severus was a kind man, he just didn't like to show it. _…So why was he doing so today? _Albus's eyes widened.

He stood abruptly and started walking towards the doors to the great hall. His walk was no longer without haste; he was positively unnerved, and needed to do some thinking. Though perhaps the thinking would lead to _overthinking, _as he was prone to do, but that was just a risk Dumbledore would have to take. He slowed a bit as he walked by the Gryffindor table and leaned down to ask a question.

"Neville my boy, did you happen to have a mishap in potions today?" He saw the boy grimace.

"Yes, sir. I'm very sorry, sir, and Professor Snape has-"

"No worries, my boy. I was just satisfying an old man's curiosity." He said, and walked out of the great hall without another word.

**Author's note:** I really shouldn't be associated with this story any more. It's pretty much writing itself, with no input from me at all. Thoughts?


	5. Realization

_Why were the people around him acting so decidedly strange today? _Dumbledore was seated at his desk in his office once again, thinking hard. He had pulled out his pensive, and it was sitting on the desktop in front of him almost mockingly. _There is something I am missing here, something vital and something obvious. _Albus had dropped his memories of today's strange occurrences into the pensive, hoping that seeing them isolated would help him see the connection between them. He cast another uneasy look at his half full dish of lemon drops before jumping face first into another memory.

_I really need to clean this thing out._ Dumbledore thought as he stared disapprovingly at the memory he'd dropped into. It was the memory of the prophesy concerning Harry and Voldemort's fates. He stood with his arms crossed and tapped his foot impatiently, when all of a sudden a thought smacked him in the face. _Is this memory connected to the oddity of today as well? Does the Dark Lord have a part in this strangeness?_

Dumbledore swirled back into his office chair, his eyebrows pulled together. He readied another memory and dipped his nose back into the pensive almost immediately after emerging from it. He was standing in a classroom now, looking down into a deceptively small trunk at the real Alastor Moody. He spun around and regarded the fake, polyjuiced man, then pulled out of the memory.

_Could that be the connection? _He thought wildly, and startled at Fawkes's sudden squawk. The strangeness, the oddities of the day seemed more and more sinister. _They could only mean one thing_, Dumbledore decided grimly. He'd been thinking in circles since he left the great hall, coming to no logical conclusions that would have caused his students and staff to act in such a peculiar way. The reason was so obvious though, now that he had figured it out. _ Tom Riddle has infiltrated Hogwarts with an army polyjuiced as my staff._

The copies were good, almost completely indistinguishable from his real staff and students. But Dumbledore could tell, ooh, he could _tell_ that they weren't the originals. They had done a frighteningly in depth study of the people close to him, but they hadn't done a good enough job! Albus was _not_ a wizard to be messed with, and he could _certainly_ tell a fraud when he saw one! He banged his desktop with conviction. Fawkes cooed dolefully.

Now, all he needed was a plan. The people who had accepted a lemon drop were automatically suspect, as well as people acting out of character… _Let's see, that includes… most of the members of the Order of the Pheonix!_ Dumbledore about slid out of his chair. _Son of a banshee! _

**Author's note:** Honestly. This just keeps getting more and more ridiculous. XD


End file.
